#3 We don’t understand where this grief is coming from or even how to stop it.

Therapy sometimes goes too far in perpetuating our grief, (getting

us to feel sorry for ourselves, which can lead to depression)

God tells us to “be of good cheer” but sometimes, we can’t. We

are sad. We need to cry. It’s called grieving.

King David danced, but he also wept about sin and disappointment.

Jeremiah wept over the sins of God’s people.

Jonah got depressed because God did not destroy Ninevah after he

delivered a word that it would be destroyed. Job got depressed too.

I believe part of soul-healing is talking about it. Whether you talk to God about it, or someone else. Ministers like TD Jakes talk about their

soul being torn, ripped apart, dreams going out the window, and feeling

like God didn’t care (for awhile) about their pain. This is why people love

to read their stories. They can relate.

We need teachers and we need prophets, but we need pastors too.

Pastors tend to be nurturing people. They love and tend to the sheep.

If they are not this way, perhaps they should not have been pastors.

But in the world of men, There are not any paying postions for a lot

of the other ministries (which is sad). They are forced to ask for money

continually, because nobody offers them a home, or a paycheck.

Those people have dreams too (you see) And it’s a heart to reach the

lost, the hurting, the broken, and the dying. They can’t get there without

someone’s help. I just put one of my dreams on the Altar, because unless

God sends a way to provide for it, I just can’t do it anymore.

It’s called “Authoring books” to reach the hurting. I can’t afford what it costs anymore, so I have to stop. My paychecks are like .01 (last quarter) for this endeavor. I’ve been doing it for 7 years now, and it pays nothing. And it’s okay but it still hurts to have dreams come to an end. I have to stop now. Until God provides for it. If he doesn’t, oh well! I will still love him just the same.

And no I don’t want sympathy- but I have some grief right now. God will

surely bring me out of it too. He always does! He is faithful! I have faced many disappointments in my life. And I will live through this one, too.

As a minister and a child of God I find that “letting go” is one of the most

painful things I have ever experienced. Letting go of what you know is bad

is hard, but letting go of something you thought was good is even harder.

I am reminded of the following scripture in regardes to self-preservation.

When you are done grieving, consider putting it all in God’s hands.

We really are better off to put our lives in the Lord’s hands and say “Thy will

be done, thy kingdom come, on earth, as it is in heaven.” Amen.

Today is November 1. Happy Author’s day. I just layed my 7 year Journey

of writing books at the Lord’s feet.

Matthew 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it. Peace out (for now) Laura Grace

Relationships #2 YOU (Is at the core of every relationship.) Are you who you want to be?

“Being Real” is something we hear all the time. You should “be real” (They say). But it’s not defined. What does being real mean to you? Your anger (about social injustice) outrage (over the issues of life) or even grief, pain, sorrow…..(over untold Losses)

That’s not WHO you really are. is it? No. At the core or heart of relationship-is who WE are. If we don’t like ourselves how do we expect others to like us? If we are not at peace with ourselves, how can anyone else be at peace with us?

Can anyone MAKE us happy? (including God?). I am reminded of the story of Jesus and the man at the pool of Bathesda, (in John, chapter 5) where he said “do you want to be made well?”

Mental health is every bit as important (if not more important) than physical health. Many of us were “messed up” in our minds over things that happened throughout our lives. Abuse. Bullying. Social Injustices. And you don’t have to be a minority to experience discrimination, favoritism, and being left out by those ‘Elitists.”

It all hurts, and it all affects us (deeply) in our hearts.

A whole (Healed) Person has a Healed Soul and Mind. Did you notice Jesus dealt with this man’s heart? (and mind?) “Do you want to be well?”

Do you want to be made well? God asked me one time if I wanted Restoration or Compensation! (Wow!) I chose Restoration. Compensation is what you get when you sue someone over what was done to you. Or get “payment” for your loss.

I don’t want compensation. I want restoration! I choose life!

Even in relationships we have to ask this question: “do we want to get along?” (or do we just want to argue?). Do we want to do the work it takes to have a great relationship?

What’s important to us? What matters most? And truly “WHO” do we wish to be? A fighter? Scrapper? Conquerer? Leader of the band? Or do we wish to have our identity forever be “continual victim” because we believe this is our lot in life?

1.Who do you want to be? And why? God really wants to know! Let him know who you would like to be! Then ask “what he wants you to be!” This is relationship at it’s finest. TWO WAY (not one way).

2. Make peace with yourself (However long it takes)

3. Be a friend (to yourself) And receive all God has for you. This will make you a better friend to others…in the long run (and a better spouse, better employeee, and so on and so forth). This means “Being willing to take correction”.

You’d be amazed at the things I’ve said to Jesus. I came to the conclusion years ago…”He already knows” so.I may as well tell him the truth! Trust me, he can handle it. I’ve said things to God that are so shocking I waited for lightning to hit me! But it didn’t! His love enveloped me instead…….(I testify!)

You can’t “offend him” by telling him the truth! I feel like Giving up Father! I have had about enough Father! I need you to show me Father (And let him know what you truly believe you need from him). I will give you a clue however……that when we ask him for what he already wants to give us, it’s likely to happen a lot quicker.

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (NKJV) Peace! Until Next time, -Laura Grace

There was a teaching, about 20 or 25 years ago. I’m not sure where it came from, but it was about “Touching God’s anointed.” I personally heard the teaching, in church, but I did not ever study the passage it was based on, until years later.

King David, was to replace King Saul, in the Old Testament. Without sharing pages of bible scripture here, I will summarize, that Saul did a lot of bad things to David, prior to David becoming the new King, of Israel.

At one point, David’s own mean pleaded with him, just to get rid of Saul. Specifically, they wanted him to just kill him, as Saul was trying to kill him, so wasn’t it justified? At this point, David said he would not “touch God’s anointed.”

This teaching was never meant to negate the passage in Ephesians, where we are told to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather, expose them.

Saul was certainly exposed. It was known to all, what kind of man he had become. While he still retained his king status (for quite a while) and gave David a lot of grief in the process, even driving him almost to the brink of insanity, David would not kill him.

I just wanted to expose the fact, that there are some teachings (which were taught in church) through the years, that are not a true revelation from the Holy Spirit. There are also teachings, which were meant for just one person, and not for everyone in the group. I do not go around teaching, that every child of God having marital problems, should get divorced.

Likewise, it should not be taught that someone should always submit to a bad leader (who is not following Jesus) Just because the bible says “submit to your leaders.”. We have to understand who is a true leader in Christ, and who isn’t. To teach a woman to go home and submit (to someone who is crazy, or abusive) is irresponsible as well.

Pat answers, such as “God hates divorce,” “Obey your leaders,” “Wives, submit to your husbands,” and even passages such as “Love bears all things,” are not the right word, for the right time, for some people, at that time. Only the Holy Spirit can teach us to properly apply a scripture at the right time, to the right person, and for the right reasons. I hear these passages a lot, but not “slaves obey your masters,” which is also in the bible. Why is that, I wonder? I do know the answer.

It was advisable, (at one time) When slavery was still in effect, for them to submit to or obey their masters. If they did not, things might not go well for them. When It came time for the slaves to go free (and many fought to the death for this freedom) The passage no longer applied, as it was time for “The captives to be set free.”

It’s not touching God’s anointed, to expose lies, or things that are not true. When a wife, child, or spouse, exposes something evil (going on in their home) they may just be obeying the word of God, found in Ephesians.

Ephesians 5:11

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them

US! Who was this passage talking to? (THE EARLY DISCIPLES OF COURSE!) And why did they need that word?

Because, they were venturing out! Saying things nobody ever said (before) Other than some prophets of old, and Jesus of course. But, did they say it JUST HOW Jesus said it? Do you see the Disciples looking in their notes, (what did Jesus say again?) and then quoting him directly? Or, do you see them writing books, getting revelation from the Holy Spirit, and even expanding on what Jesus said? NOT Making up new doctrines mind you, But the basic Gospel SEED which was planted in Jesus, grew up in them!

And, when they did start speaking, talking, doing signs and wonders……do you see Jesus coming along saying, “Now, is that what I showed you? I told you to put mud in his right eye, not his left!” “Now, I SAID Peace be still” To the winds and waves, why are you saying “CALM DOWN” (and get all on their cases for being THEM In Christ?)

Laura, why are you yakking about this? I will tell you. It doesn’t matter if TD Jakes said it, (What you are going to say right now) Or if Kenny Copeland Said it, or if Joyce said it, or if even your pastor said it. Guess what? They can’t cover all the bases. WE ARE A TEAM For Jesus (the Body of Christ) so let’s get out there, cover all the bases, not be afraid of doing it AND HELP TEAM JESUS Win! Amen?

John the Baptist was a forerunner, got his head chopped off! HE announced the coming of Jesus. WHY? That was his job, assigned by the Holy Spirit and, HE DID IT! Praise God!

But then here came Peter…..John, and the others ……..And you know what they saw? They saw YOU coming in the future! So they wrote things down FOR YOUR SAKE! Out of love! (FOR JESUS, and for you) and they had no hope of SELLING Those books back then either. But they wrote them anyway! Aren’t you glad they did? Aren’t you glad they spoke, even if many thought they were nuts, at the time?

SO Let’s not be scared of each other……if we belong to Jesus, we are family! And let’s not be afraid to at least listen, to what others have to say (for his names’ sake) amen.

If you want to publish a book, I will help you, free of charge. FREE OF CHARGE! Just ask me and I will do my best to help.

hi! Laura Grace here! Yes, I get upset sometimes too, I really do. Scared? Yes, I am easily frightened without God’s help. But, here’s the thing. Fear brings Anger, Anger gets out of control (super easily) that rages out of control. We lose our peace, satan comes along and says it’s their fault, not our fault, if only THEY would straighten up and stop upsetting us this way! Oh My!

SO I asked God, (yesterday) Tell me what to read Father, what do you want to say? One word came to me. “Galatians”. It says the works of the flesh are obvious. Envy, Pride, lust, self-righteousness…….(the list goes on.) What’s the solution?

It’s not that we are taking a lukewarm stand against sin, or that we don’t care what’s going on in this world, but there is no getting around the fact, that God tells US to Grow! When we find ourselves feeling like the fruits of the Spirit, walking in righteousness, or learning of Him is too PASSIVE For our taste…..

There is something wrong.WE are supposed to be taking the land (Of our own soul) and expanding the territory of our own minds, TAKING THE LAND (of us) For Christ!

This will never change.God isn’t making any exceptions, to his rule.

We will not make a difference until we are more like him (First).

And, Anger can (and will) lead to sin if you are not careful……….

So, when someone tries to get me all upset (at the things that are happening) I want you to know, I am not sticking my head in the sand. I simply choose Jesus, and he said TO GROW! (and I am not done yet, and never will be,) Amen! -Laura Grace

Okay Let’s clear this up! Father in the name of Jesus, give me the words, let it minister to hearts everywhere I pray in Jesus’ name! amen. WHAT IS FIRE?First of all God doesn’t cause it. Revelation 3 “I council you to buy gold (from the fire). Jesus said this to John, who wrote Revelation.

OH there is confusion out there about this, and what it means exactly. First, I thought we couldn’t buy the things of God?? Well you buy it with your decision (a purchase of sorts) and you buy it with a decision, to walk through the fire.Fire is painful, scary, could kill you, dangerous! Therefore, you choose to walk through it, trusting God IN this fire.

The Fire is hardship, pain, unpleasant. Jesus endured fire. criticism, misunderstandings, accusing you falsely…….(and more) all of this is fire.

Because of God’s mercy, we are not consumed. He leads us into fire, he leads us out. People who refuse to allow God to do this saying “that can’t be God,” are not refined, become lukewarm, and they are like those who did not build with precious stones as described in the book of Matthew. They do not have “Faith like Gold.”

Often, Pentecostals are just certain no suffering should happen, GOD WANTS TO DELIVER YOU! They quickly quote, and say. True, God does want to deliver you (from evil.) Others believe God broughtthe suffering, (That he really ISN”T Good all the time) Still others say that we should just suffer (continually) and sing songs of Joy, as if we are never to expect anything better! (And these are all Christians!)

No wonder the rest are confused, think we are wacky, and run from as fast as we can.

“Christians speak with forked tongues’they say! (And we do, sometimes). The truth is we choose to walk through suffering, most of the time, or we refuse to do it.When people take their own life, they are choosing not to. When people run from their critics, they are choosing not to (suffer). In My case yes, I finally did leave abuse AFTER I’d been refined in the fire of abuse. WHEN I left all was forgiven and I prayed for my abuser, and still do. The refining fire of THAT type was over with, and done.

So see, with the right attitude, God wins every time! You are either walking in fire, overcoming, getting commended by the Lord for it, obtaining something more precious than Gold (a refined faith) or you are being delivered (God gets the Glory) Or you are resting now in green pastures for awhile, (God still gets the Glory) and the people who seem to get away with running (from everything) and not facing it? They are messing themselves up super bad, because they are not prepared for anything.

These are the type that avoid every trial,refuse to be led (by the Holy spirit) into types of wilderness experiences (and things) that refine them, which are also very uncomfortable, and they never learn God will NOT LET the fire consume or destroy them IF they trust Him.

And these are also the same types, who drain people, wear them out, want someone to do all their praying for them, refuse to learn anything new, and completely refuse to grow.

In the book of Acts, a ship crashed and fell to pieces because they would not listen to Paul. He said basically, “well I warned you but you wouldn’t listen.” They survived, but were ship wrecked. Paul went through a fire in all this as well. God never said he would CAUSE Paul’s suffering, He just told him it would happen.

His stand for Jesus came with a price. There was criticism, being jailed, being run out of town. In some cases he was beaten unfairly, all because he would not go with the program society decided was best.

Everyone sympathizes with those being tortured for their faith overseas somewhere, but hardly anyone cares if it’s a woman who is relentlessly persecuted by her husband, she is supposed to stay and take it, while we pray for those poor missionaries overseas. I have met people who are in the fire of refining every day of their lives, and nobody cares, because it does not fit in the neat little box of what we decided is Persecution.

Many suffer their lives being burned to the ground, their marriage goes up in flames, all because one would not bow to the idol of drugs, partying, criminal behavior, and the like. They suffer silently, because often even the church does not recognize their plight…….

They are busy helping those with “REAL PROBLEMS” (so they say) and wonder why some of these don’t come to church anymore…….

But I am here to encourage, that all who are going through the fire willingly because God asked you to, He will preserve you, deliver you, get you out to the other side………

He did it for me, He will do it for you. With Love, Laura Grace, Author, Grace to the Rescue

Hi there! Laura Grace, Author, Christian, every day human being, serving God on planet Earth! There was a song we used to sing in church: “Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord,”I just loved that song, Sort of a prayer song, you know?

Anyway, so we are vessels, the bible says, and when we learn to hold water, (of the Word) Then we are a container to help refresh others (my bible says).

However, there are those who will drain us, refuse to learn to receive (themselves) or some who even try to contaminate the living water (of our soul) with corruption, bitterness, or whatever they seem to be carrying around. This is where ministry gets tricky.

There seems to be this outcry now days, one in which everyone is saying, “don’t make me feel bad about myself, don’t judge me, don’t hurt me with your words!”

I by no means wish to Hurt anyone, and any good minister I know, doesn’t wish to do that either. Oh sure, there are a few out there, who could care less who they slay with their tongue, but there also comes a time the truth must be said, and as the saying goes, “the truth hurts’ There is really no way around it.

Therefore, while I believe in being kind, gentle, loving, forgiving, and merciful…………

If someone is contaminating my well, (of salvation) or polluting my living water with their ways, opinions, bitterness, and relentless arguments……I have to cut them off.

If I allow myself to be polluted and contaminated with the rudiments and beliefs of this world, the Living Water God has given me to share with others, will be of no value to anyone. And this is why my darlings, while we hope to be open-minded (to a degree) we cannot afford to be door mats. Mercy understands Holiness, Holiness understands Love, Love understands Righteousness, all of the attributes of God are hinged together, and cannot be separated. God does not separate himself from himself! Love you ….

have a great day (in Jesus) Laura Grace (Author) Grace to the Rescue series.